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Overview

Welcome to Hereville, home of the first-ever wisecracking, adventure-loving, sword-wielding Orthodox Jewish heroine. A delightful mix of fantasy, adventure, cultural traditions, and preteen commotion, this fun, quirky graphic novel series will captivate middle-school readers with its exciting visuals and entertaining new heroine.

Mirka is back, and she’s still the only sword-brandishing, monster-fighting Orthodox Jewish girl in town. Or so she thinks.

When a misguided troll aims a meteor at the witch’s house, the witch grabs hold of the closest thing possible to transform the flying, flaming rockand that would be Mirka’s hair. The meteor is changed, all right: it’s now Mirka’s identical twin.

Doppelganger Mirka, vowing to be a better version of the real girl, sets out to charm all of Hereville, including Mirka’s own family. Our heroine challenges the meteor girl to a three-part contest . . . and the loser will be banished from Hereville forever!

Praise for Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite:

STARRED REVIEWS

"Deutsch has created a wonderful world in Mirka's insulated Orthodox village and continues to capture it adroitly... Mirka is unflinchingly likable because she is so tempestuous and inexact, and really, who can’t relate to that? This truly clever series is lots of fun."

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"The color illustrations are as crisp and clear as they come. The endlessly creative panel and perspective work adds visual interest and gives experienced graphic-novel readers plenty to savor. A well-crafted addition to a truly distinctive series."

School Library Journal, starred review

"She's both a fish out of water (she dreams of being a sword-wielding dragon slayer) and committed to her Orthodox Jewish faith, family, and community. All of this makes her one of the most original and comically endearing heroines to come down the pike in a long time."

Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The graphic novel format serves the quirky story well, with strong inks and a subdued palette that emphasize characters’ personalities and facial expressions as well as the tale’s action. As with Mirka’s first adventure, this volume brings diversity and wit to comics for young teens and tweens..."

The Horn Book Magazine

"Deutsch is a masterful storyteller with both realistic kid patter and expressive cartoonsnot only of Orthodox life but also of assorted trolls and other mostly benign fantasy creatures. A spunky adventure in kid-accessible truths revealed through the employment of fantasy."

About the Author

Barry Deutsch won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Award and was nominated for Eisner, Harvey, Ignatz, and Nebula awards that year. He won the national Charles M. Schulz Award for best college cartoonist in 2000 and was nominated for Comic-Con’s Russ Manning Award for Promising Newcomer in 2008. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Eleven-year-old Mirka Herschberg is as disheveled, prickly, competitive, and impulsive as ever in this companion to Deutsch's Hereville (2010). She's both a fish out of water (she dreams of being a sword-wielding dragon slayer) and committed to her Orthodox Jewish faith, family, and community. All of this makes her one of the most original and comically endearing heroines to come down the pike in a long time. The meteorite in the title is actually an alien life formdubbed "Metty"that becomes Mirka's reverse doppelganger: a too-good-to-be true twin who's not only neater, defter at dispatching bullies, and better at basketball than Mirka, but also determined to permanently displace her. With unexpectedly effective help from Mirka's family (who are savvier and more accepting than Mirka realizes), her messy personality triumphs over perfection. The drably handsome olive and peach palette provides visual cohesionan anchor that allows Deutsch's extravagantly chronicled emotions to fly highwhile simultaneously making the story's extraterrestrial elements and scenes (colored in bold yellows and blues) all the more magical and alien by contrast. Ages 8–12. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4–7—Meteorite picks up right where How Mirka Got Her Sword (Abrams, 2010) leaves off. When Mirka, an 11-year-old Orthodox Jew, goes to retrieve her sword from the troll, he inadvertently summons a meteorite. Fortunately, she is able to prevent the destruction of Hereville with the help of the witch. Unfortunately, the witch turns the meteorite into a clone of Mirka. It isn't long before "Metty" begins to make our heroine's life difficult. When Mirka asks the duplicate to leave, Metty proposes three challenges to decide who will stay in Hereville, and who will be banished. Deutsch seamlessly weaves elements of Orthodox Judaism in with themes of individuality and self-worth. The color illustrations are as crisp and clear as they come. The endlessly creative panel and perspective work adds visual interest and gives experienced graphic-novel readers plenty to savor. A well-crafted addition to a truly distinctive series.—Travis Jonker, Wayland Union Schools, MI

School Library Journal

Hooray! The charmingly imperfect Mirka returns to battle a miming meteorite (How Mirka Got Her Sword, 2010). Still grounded after her last adventure, Mirka wriggles her way out of her house arrest after an important game of chess with her stepmother, receiving from her a message of things to come: "[W]hen you have to make a decision, imagine the person you want to become someday. Ask yourself, what would that person do?" After another encounter with the witch and the multilimbed troll of the first book, Mirka finds herself stuck with a sapient meteorite that has assumed her appearance. What seems like a great idea (just think: They can split chores!) quickly sours when she finds herself missing meals and time with her family. When Mirka decides she's had enough, she challenges Meteorite Mirka (known as Metty) to an epic battle that will take brains—not brawn—to win. Watching Mirka fight the seemingly perfect version of herself is riveting. Deutsch has created a wonderful world in Mirka's insulated Orthodox village and continues to capture it adroitly—though he has left himself enough room to blast Mirka out to space without readers batting an eye. Mirka is unflinchingly likable because she is so tempestuous and inexact, and really, who can't relate to that? This truly clever series is lots of fun. (Graphic fantasy. 8-13)

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